Jim's Retro Village Coffeehouse: Six

It was warm and steamy in the Village Coffee House this evening. The aroma from various exotic blends of coffees mixed with the smell of freshly baked muffins. The Folksinger was doing a particularly poignant interpretation of “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s my Brother.” The Older Bald Guy wryly thought about how the song fit his present mood.

Since his return to Canada some time ago, he had become increasingly troubled by the plight of the homeless, and by the subculture of the street. He was attempting to capture some of his impressions in a series of poems collected under the broad heading of “Anger in the Street.”

The Resident Radical was in the middle of a diatribe concerning news that the federal government was about to pump millions of tax dollars into propping up the franchises of Canadian NHL teams.

“The Proletariat must now throw off the yoke of big business bottom liners and their government lackies,” he ranted. He added that the crisis of the medical emergency services, and the situation of the homeless were much more worthy recipients of tax dollars than millionaire sportsmen and wealthy club owners.

The Poet-in-the-Beret agreed, mentioning the recent report that the Human Resources department had no paper trail at all for billions in grants for makework projects. It appeared as though government had lost touch with the electorate.

The OBG listened, and thought about the “long, long road” that Canadians had stretching before them into the 21st century. He wondered if there could ever be a government “of the people, for the people.” He glanced at his steno pad, upon which the next instalment in the “Anger in the Street” series was scrawled.

The Teacher

Another when,
and he ruled his Eng Lit classes
from the comfort
of tweeds well worn.

Today, though,
stumps of pencils, flags of paper,
were now secreted willy-nilly
deep in the rags
that called him home.

Teaching when and where he could,
urchin and ancient alike
found benefit
from his memory of a life
before his Fall.
A name spelled here,
welfare application there,
laboured reading
of gutter-trapped headlines;
the street seemed less ugly
for his students.

Shorn heads and hard booted,
the Furies fell upon him
one cold night
for possession of his half bottle
of fortified wine.

Surrounded by his small blank bits of paper,
and short, sharpened stubs of pencils,
his body resembled nothing so much
as an incomplete jigsaw puzzle,
its meaning not quite clear.

Snowfall

The snow falls quietly:
white flakes
softly floating to the ground,
like the passage
of the seconds,
the minutes,
the days
that silently mark
our brief sojourn.

Like the snow,
the accumulation of time
ultimately forms
a blanket,
a shroud:
a transient monument
to the fleeting blaze
that is our lives.

If we examine each flake,
each precious minute,
slowly we comprehend
a minute portion
of the magnificent complexity,
the glowing splendour,
the magical triumph,
the living tapestry
of our passing Season.

Jim's Retro Village Coffeehouse: Five

The Folksinger has lost her voice after singing her heart out all evening. She was now sipping a café au lait and listening to the Poet-with-the-Beret who has a Che Guevara look in his eyes. He is more than pleased to have the opportunity to explain his vision of what the Lake Poets were really saying. The Folksinger’s guitar stands forgotten, as she considers the depth of the poet’s eyes.

The Older-Bald-Guy sitting in the corner is contemplating universal truths. He is considering poetry as a Performance Art form. He visualises the title “Poetry as a Plastic Art” wrought in pink neon tubing using a wonderfully retro Art Deco style. He is waiting for a new pot of his favourite blend to finish dripping.

The words that he has written in his steno pad are arranged in a roughly circular pattern. They reflected his appreciation of Hinduism, and the form of his words represent the eternal Circle of Flame within which Siva, as Nataraj, dances his cycle of destruction and rebirth. They are reproduced below, and should be read down the left side and up the right.





Note: To see this properly, you may have to copy the jpeg image then enlarge to view.

Jim's Retro Village Coffeehouse: Four

The Retro Village Coffeehouse was muted tonight. Although the usual clientele were present, the decibel level of the background conversation, which often was more than a tad acrimonious, tonight was subdued. It could, perhaps, have been due in part to the fact that the Folksinger had left the stage for a break and, in her absence, had put on a CD of Jane Siberry singing the traditional “The Water is Wide.” Siberry’s voice was, as usual, thought-provoking, but her treatment of the song enhanced the inherent melancholy to the point where the Coffeehouse habitués were almost spellbound by the song’s bittersweet refrain.

The Resident Radical carried through the boat image, and was thoughtfully haranguing the Capitalist Establishment for using the proletariat as gallery slaves to power the ship of state. The English Literature major thought that, as a traditional work of poetry, the words of Siberry’s piece were sadly simplistic.

The Older Bald Guy sipped a cup of black Guatemala Antiqua, flavoured solely by one spoon of demerara sugar and a shake of cinnamon. On the battered steno pad upon which his pen rested, he had jotted down some thoughts based on the boat analogy.

As a Sail on the Horizon

The boy looked out to sea:
past scrub spruce on rocky tors,
his gaze skipped over gravel shingle
whispering an ageless sough to the sea.
There! Across the reach,
beyond the island!
The tiny sail touching the horizon
would stay with the boy for hours,
traversing his lilliputian world.

Later, as an economic refugee
"going down the road,"
the boy was reminded of the sail
as he watched through the night
on the "Maritime Express."


Small pools of light would appear
in the Stygian darkness
of a New Brunswick night:
promises of comfort and home.

On the horizon of my life
I have seen many sails.
Some have docked, sojourned,
become part of my life for a time.
Others passed, unknown,
into the vortex of Time.

I only wish, at this late date,
that I had tried harder,
made more effort,
to make the journeys of others
as joyous as my own.

Jim's Retro Village Coffeehouse: Three

The Older Bald Guy was sitting at his regular table in the corner. In his cup was a blend of Kenyan Estate AA and Indian Peaberry that he savoured as he tried to rid his mind of the funk that had settled upon him. He had just passed through a nearby mall, and was disturbed by the nihilist lyrics of some of the music being played publicly throughout the popular shopping centre. On the small stage, the Folksinger gave a full dose of poignancy to the old 1965 song, “Bright, Elusive Butterfly of Love.” The OBG felt the despair of innocence lost more strongly than was his custom. A great believer in the truth and sincerity of the hippie movement in its’ seminal days, the OBG wondered if some aspects of modern music and lyrics were not spawned in cultural reaction to the Sixties’ aborted quest for truth, love, and peace. He hoped not: he preferred to think that violent and aggressively sexual music and lyrics were legitimate responses to difficult societal times.

The Resident Radical was berating the Owner/Hostess over her inclusion of Guatemalan Arabica on the list of coffees available. He claimed that the running dog capitalist government of Guatemala exploited the coffee workers solely to provide Wall Street robber barons with a cheaper cup of coffee. He would not listen to O/H’s argument that the present Guatemalan government had assisted in streamlining the coffee industry in Guatemala, thus creating several thousand jobs that had not existed previously.

The Poet in the Beret was having a discussion with the English Major Coed about whether the Lake Poets were effete elitists, or if they actually were aware of the class struggle going on around their Olympian fields of daffodils.

The OBG sighed, ordered another blend with single cream and double Demerara sugar, and looked over the lines he had been writing on his steno pad.

The Echo in the Storm

The tempest continued to grow
in unabridged intensity.
At some other points in time
it had seemed almost as catastrophic,
but not quite.

Years ago, perhaps yesterday,
breaks had appeared
in a cloud cover that threatened to erase
all memory of a sun
dimly remembered.

Several times, before today,
sunbeams fell on streets
and on meadows, illuminating
life with fond remembrance
of better days.

Did we, by not pausing
to appreciate this fleeting splendour,
signal to unknown gods our proclivity
for eclipsing light and order
with self-imposed Chaos?

Jim's Retro Village Coffeehouse: Two

The Older Bald Guy sat quietly in his easy chair, listening to Loreena McKennitt on his stereo. The view across the bay and down the harbour was peaceful, and yesterday’s snow had melted. Although he was perfectly content and fulfilled in his retirement, he occasionally found himself thinking about the joy, and the madness that had been “The Village Coffee House.” He smiled to himself as he remembered how the holiday season would always drive the coffee house habitues to greater leaps of creative energy. He recalled, for example, one typical day in December not too very long ago...

The Folksinger was playing her Celtic harp, and singing an excellent rendition of “In the Bleak Mid-winter,” while the Music-Student-Who-Looked-Like-Bob-Marley joined in from the floor with a complicated, but very poignant counterpoint based on John Lennon’s “War is Over.” The audience was rapt in collective silence.

The banner behind the postage stamp stage proclaimed “And on earth Peace, Goodwill toward People.” The Feminist-Art-Major had trouble with the original wording, and so had made that portion of the Scriptures gender neutral. The Resident Radical, as usual, had trouble with the sentiment of the banner, and vented his view that banners should only be used to reflect the wishes of the proletariat, or, at best, quotations from Lenin, Marx, Che, or Mao. He favoured something alone the lines of “Throw off your Capitalist yoke, and recidivist religious superstitions. Exceed Five Year Plan quotas!” The OBG quietly preferred the “...Goodwill toward People” choice.

The OBG was having his third cup of a blend of two-thirds Kenya Estate AA and one third Mocha Java Brown, a blend suggested earlier by the Poet-with-the-Beret during their (argument) discussion of the efficacy of metered, rhymed poetry in conveying a poetic message to a 20th Century audience. The discussion was left unresolved, but the OBG still favoured his own view that rhyming was overly confining in communicating the immediacy of modern thought. There were, however, times when rhyming could be used to create a feeling, or a mood, more effectively than prose. The piece on his steno pad was case in point...

Stars

The laughter of children,
The suddenness of Spring,
Fond memory in an old man’s eye,
A well-worn wedding ring.

The dancing of the Northern Lights,
The wind upon the sea,
Comfort of an oft’ read book,
A cup of Ceylon tea.

The lights upon a Christmas tree,
The scent of new-mown hay,
Remembrance of an absent friend,
The moon-path on the bay.
* * *
These stars I’ve used to mark my way
Home, through soul-dark night:
These memories that ensure I shall
Always walk in light.

Monument to the Unknown Soldier

He stands there, carved in granite chill,
outlined against the sky.
He had to fight, against his will:
to live, only to die.

Alone there in cold autumn rain,
he stands aloof and proud:
he wears a look of death and pain,
with fallen leaves his shroud.

Still, his head is held up high,
determined is his chin.
His eyes look far, beyond the sky:
on his lips, a cynic’s grin.

For when he heard his country call,
to a foreign land he came;
and hard he fought, at last to fall
where no one knew his name.

Jim's Retro Village Coffeehouse: One

The Older Bald Guy was enjoying a blend of Kenyan AA and Viennese Roast beans, with cream and brown sugar. He was reflecting on the song the Folksinger had just finished-a cover of Frank Sinatra’s "It Was A Very Good Year." Although the OBG was comfortable with old age, there were several aspects of becoming a "senior" that bothered him. The lifetime of knowledge and wisdom that seniors accumulate over their lifetimes is largely ignored as a resource by busier, younger people. Society in general seems to marginalise seniors, and place them out of the way, perhaps in an unconscious effort to ignore the relentless inevitability of aging. In return, it seemed to the OBG that seniors reinforced the marginalisation by being self-effacing, and by seeming to become almost invisible in their manner and actions.

An older couple had come into the Coffeehouse a few minutes ago, and were sitting quietly and unobtrusively at a corner table, their conversation, clothes, and body language doing nothing to attract attention. They were unnoticed by the Resident Radical, who was in the middle of a rant about how Medicare was not free to the people, and how the government made everyone think that it was a federal gift, when, in fact it was a capitalist tax grab. Neither were they in the thoughts of the Poet with the Beret, who was deep into a creative surge that the PwtB thought worthy of Kerouac.

The OBG looked down at the steno pad upon which he had been scribbling. This is what he had written:

Fog People

You often
almost see them
from the corner
of your eye.

You sense
a wisp of grey,
a floating,
e t h e r e a l
movement
that suddenly
d i s s o l v e s.

They drift
quietly,
gently,
on the edge
of our consciousness:
these pale,
these grey,
these haunting
people,
whom all,
but Time,
have forgotten.

If we chance
to pause,
to peer beyond
the d r i f t i n g veil,
we see,
within the shroud,
a preview of ourselves
tomorrow.

Samhain Dance

Beneath the moon of fair Samhain
there dances wild the Faerie Queen.
In rings conjured on sweet Beltane
they dance sacred, dance profane.

And magic lights around the knoll
swirl, and dip, and thrill the soul:
and banshee music wild and sweet
gives rhythm to small dancing feet.

Shades of the children of Danu wail
as they hover here, beyond the Pale.
I left them there, ‘neath ancient star,
travelling home from Paddy Murphy’s Bar.

Ancient Magick

There is a timeless Magick here.
Its vibrations cause
the wind to moan
through my pines,
and keen in my maples,
lamenting the loss
of ancient innocence.

It filters the autumn light,
drenching changing leaves
with an orange aura
that pulses
with a mystical life.
The wild grasses flow
before the wind:
waves of a cyclical tide
of constant change.

It infuses bleak winter days
with shifting variations
on white and grey.
Northwest winds howl
arcane incantations,
awakening a harmonic kaleidoscope:
tumbling memories of hope,
of joy, of love.

The spirit of the Land speaks
in its high crystalline Voice,
and, listening, I understand
that from this Magick I was forged,
nurtured and cherished,
and to this sacred Temple
I shall return.

Saying Goodbye to Erin

One develops strange and mixed emotions when one’s child goes to a job half way around the world. First, you think how wonderful that her positive thinking and diligence landed her a dream job in her dream country. Almost everything that she wished for has come true. You are elated for her, but suddenly the flash comes that the realisation of her dreams has a personal price tag for you: an irretrievable sense of loss.

So you resort to contemplation and meditation, and slowly, through the pain of her absence you come to an understanding: she is doing what you did, all those years ago, by flying off into the unknown to pursue dreams, ambitions, and life. She has become a capable avatar through which you can enjoy, again, the strangeness, the wonder, the frustration, the joy of life and all the surprises, pain, and passion that living it brings.

Here at Greyhavens I will continue to do what I have done since retirement: create a peaceful and loving environment, conducive to the Cosmic Vibration, and sensitive and responsive to our fragile human condition, that my children can always feel is their home.

You watch the departure of your child who seems so small, confused, fragile, and alone, but in reality you are watching the departure of a capable, beautiful, smart, and confident adult, striding purposefully along the road to her future. And you experience pride through your pain, and get on with your life, and wait for the next visit, because that is what you do.

Enjoy, darling girl, and listen carefully to the Soundtrack of YOUR Life. Be safe, careful and smart. Look forward to seeing you again next year.

The Phoenix in The Fireplace

Imagine how pleased and surprised I was this morning when I discovered a Phoenix in my fireplace!

Terry accuses me of getting everything that I want. I must say that, with the arrival of the Phoenix, I am starting to believe it.

The God Particle, Lister, Alamogordo, and Lots of Other Stuff

Some time ago, a friend of mine, a fervent Christian, expressed confusion at trying to reconcile his religion with certain scientific truths. He expressed confusion in several areas which I have formed, following, into sub-headings, in an attempt to clarify his questions through my anti-theistic filter.

The speed of light and time standing still.

We are, of course, dealing with theory, not established fact, but, thinking as a layman and not a scientist, I would think that causing a particle to reach the speed of light would result in simply that… the particle reaching the speed of light. Remember that light is travelling around us constantly, and, although it would sometimes be useful to have time stand still, that is not happening, at least not quantifiably. Quantum physics is largely a theoretical discipline, and one must be careful not to mistake words for probity.

Nations with destruction on their minds, and scientific advance.

Bellicose nations have, throughout recorded history, taken advantage of technological change. Aggression in nations often fosters and accelerates scientific advancement which ultimately, after the aggressor has passed into recent history, ends up in everyday usage which, sometimes and arguably, makes for a better life for the general populace. You may mention Hitler, and, yes, he was a great believer in his scientists, who did a lot of the seminal work in rocketry, ballistics, and nuclear reaction. When, however, one considers the abominable mockery of science his human experiments created, any legitimate scientific advance by scientists of the Third Reich has the rotting smell of a Doctor Frankenstein experiment. The results of his scientific support did not change his ultimate failure to institute his intrinsically wrong socio-economic plan for his Reich.

The End of Times and Allegories from the Book of Revelation

I realize the importance that some Christian sects place upon the end of times and the Book of Revelation, and am, of course, unable to comment. You will be familiar with my belief that sacred texts are only words written by men, and are interpreted by other men, with both the writers and the interpreters adding their own spin to whatever the message might be. The Book of Revelation is (in)famous for this, with its visions, predictions, and prophecies that permit logarithmic interpretations of what is actually meant. Speculation, in both science and religion, remains simply that…speculation. Theory is all well and good, but solid proof should be the ultimate goal for both Christian theorists and quantum physicists. Ad interim, to paraphrase Mao Zedong, let a thousand discussions bloom.

In our discussion here today, I am reminded of the profound difference between Christian belief and Buddhist belief: the one embraces the future (the Rapture, the Second Coming, the end of days), while the other embraces the present. We can readily see, utilising information available, that the profound difference in focus between these two major religions is primarily brought about by socio-economic differences. Early Christianity was very Old Testament in imagery, being based upon an angry and jealous god of wrath and punishment. Later church establishment found that a peasant populace could be controlled by fear and bullying far more easily than a populace who embraced the new Testament philosophies of peace, tolerance, and social justice. Buddhism was born in an area of the world where day to day subsistence living made focus on improving one’s lot here and today much easier than believing in eventual spiritual rewards through a life of austerity, fear, and obedience. Christianity and science, as well, differ in concept, in that the one indeed gives God the glory, postulating that some things are unknowable and in the realm of (using an “intelligent design” example) not knowing the contents God's tool box. The other abandons the Faith approach and utilises what developed intelligence we may have to further our collective knowledge. If I were Christian, I would be of the school of thought that argues on using our talents rather than (as in the parable) burying them in the dirt.

Los Alamos, Lister, and the Working Tools of God

If the scientific experience of Los Alamos was/is considered as touching on the working tools of God, could not one have said the same about the radical work of Pasteur and Lister in advocating sterilization of medical instruments and the washing of hands when the popular belief was that "miasma" caused the putrification of wounds. Again, were I Christian, it seems to me that I would believe that the ultimate "working tool of God" was the mind of Man, and that to use this Tool as much as possible would indeed be to God's glory. More destruction is being wrought globally today through the use of the inventions of Henry Ford and James Watts than has, as yet, been
visited upon us by the misuse of the results from the plains of Alamogordo.

None of the foregoing is meant, as you well know, to disparage the multitudinous schools of Christian thought. My words are merely attempting to show that intellectual exploration in any forum can bring about good as well as evil, and that I feel such exploration is mankind's highest purpose.

What will be, will be, but for me the concept of "what is" ranks much higher on the scale of personal, spiritual, and intellectual fulfilment.

Peace.

Haiku for Autumn

Haiku for Autumn

*
The falling leaf drifts
gently to the ground before
the storms of autumn.
*
Brightly twinkling star,
must you reflect so well that
cold truth of winter?
*
Trees hunch, shoulders bare,
in remembrance of their lost
golden cloaks of leaves.
*
Clouds, grey-cloaked, huddle close,
hoarding warmth the earth yields only
in grudging measure.
*
Late, the bird, puzzled,
walks the frozen pond confused.
Softly falls his shroud.
*

The Final Autumn

Like some monolith to a youthful Endymion
the slate-grey sky did not permit
the epitaph etched by strato-cirrus
to be read.

Stark trees, wind-shorn of frivolous foliage,
did cold penitence for their summer follies:
a circadian confession to ensure
vernal resurrection.

Restless, colourless waves of November
marched mindlessly to assault the strand,
implacably expunging the bare and carefree footprints
of Summer.

* * *
His perusal was fond; a lover's caress
fraught with the echoes of past joy.
His eyes drank deeply of autumn's tumultuous brew;
but his heart savoured past vintages.

The echoes swirled in aural and visual
kaleidoscopic patterns:
chimerical memories vying for recognition.

A child, he saw, wading through sun-warmed tidal pools,
spying drifts of mermaids hair,
entranced by magical shells
exploding in profusion about his joyous toes.

Before his eyes the child became a man,
guiding another child
through the mysteries of summer,
through the wonder of the seasons.

A young man, he saw, puzzled and confused,
searching barren streets
devoid of the companionship
of light and laughter.

* * *
The young man, changing, now more assured;
older, but certain in his steps,
sure of his direction
towards some unknown goal.

The old man watched himself, fearful,
loath to follow the path
that led inexorably
beyond his ken.

* * *
His return was slow, a painful trudge.
His wife, younger, bore his Celtic melancholia
with the ease of loving practice.
Bringing his Bushmills', she told him,
now warmed by the fire, that the children
would be home for Christmas.

* * *

On First Seeing Bermuda

Southeast breeze carries
scent of jacaranda,
eucalyptus,
oleander, and bougainvillea.

Houses of pastels
that breathe in gentle sunlight:
perfection set in
manicured lawns.

Accents attenuated
from the harsher Caribbean,
friendly voices
greet, and smile.

From Gibb’s Hill,
a visual smorgasbord
tasting subtly, and sadly,
of Eden lost.

The Choice

I have often mused about the greed of Man, and of our proclivity for consumption, and of our lack of moderation, and the absence of consideration of the natural and inevitably consequences of cause and effect.
Suppose for a moment that one were standing at a mythical control panel upon which were affixed several different switches which were all set in the ON position. The labels on the brightly coloured, attractive, high impact plastic switches read as follows:

Rainforest/old growth forest logging.
Leaving this switch ON will deplete the amount of oxygen being produced to support the requirements of future generations, and is contributing to changing global weather patterns.

Overfishing and continued pollution of the world’s oceans.
This will continue to empty what once seemed an infinite source of food, and will ultimately become a great watery salt desert, contributing further to changing and catastrophic weather patterns.

Lack of control over industrial air and land pollutants.
This will further contribute to the occasional "yellow" days over rural Nova Scotia caused by smog generated by Massachusetts, New York, and New Jersey industries. More and more of the very young and the elderly will die each summer as the high concentration of chemical particulate is trapped by thermal inversion. Ozone layer depletion will continue, and the rate of skin cancer and eye problems will escalate. Almost everyone is driving a Hummer.

Economic Militarism.
Nations, both large and small, continue to attack other nations with the purpose of seizing natural resources that are decreasing logarithmically. Often minefields are left behind that severely cripple the ability of the attacked nation to resume a degree of normalcy after such attacks. Canada becomes increasingly eyed as a natural resource jewel by both the United States and China.

Failure to address global societal inequalities.
This switch remains ON. Guerrilla groups (which the large militaristic nations call terrorists) continue to strike at the heart of major industrial nations. Continued support for the right wing state of Israel and the support of repressive regimes in many Arab countries by the industrialised nations makes continued jihad a life-choice for most young Arab men. African tribes continue to be routinely slaughtered by other tribes, as AIDS affects almost half of sub-Saharan Africa.

There were other switches with less earth-changing cause and effect, but all of them led, slowly but inexorably to a future in which our planet was left as an arid, depleted husk, devoid of life, and drifting alone in a cosmos where our brief human experience was judged by the natural balance of Chaos, and found severely wanting. 

I wonder, would one be brave enough to start turning these switches OFF, one at a time, and accept some measure of personal inconvenience balanced against future and sustainable prosperity? Or would one leave the switches ON, and accept the gratification of the moment, smile contentedly while listening to the music of the industrial machinery as we marched, lemming-like, towards future extinction?

For me, there is no choice.

Sic transit gloria

The Cinnamon Gardens Commute

I remembered, this morning,
the early morning walk
from six upon three (6/3) Wijerama Mawatha
to number six Gregory’s Road.

I smelt again the texture
of the Sri Lankan dust
stimulating my nose;
the pungency of rotting vegetation
piled by storm drains
that awaited the next
monsoonal overflow;
and the eye-watering sharpness of a length
of burning coir rope
hanging outside a small roadside lean-to
so that customers could light
their purchased beedis,
made from the sweepings
of the nationalised Benson Hedges factory,
catering to the addictive needs
of the working class.

This, and the deep brown sweet aroma
of stacked pieces of jaggery fudge,
home-made from coconut sugar,
blending in exotic melange
with the spicy call of
devilled cashew nuts:
all proffered by a smiling proprietor
with a name as exotic
as his varied wares.

I pass Horton Place,
and stare in envious wonder
at Professor Arthur C. Clarke’s
satellite dish,
as the kerosene man passes me,
his bullock cart lending
strange contrast in a land
where paradox is commonplace.

Turning onto Gregory’s Road,
I am flanked by a phalanx
of pink cassia, breadfruit,
frangipani, teak, various mimosa,
and the towering cinnamon trees
that give the area its name.
The distinctive call of the knife-sharpener,
brings cooks running from their busy kitchens
to take advantage of his curb-side trade.

The fecund olive trees in the garden
of the High Commission
are dropping their abundant fruit:
a neon flash of parakeets bursts
from laden branches,
as I start another
long day at the office.

Anger In The Street

Anger in the Street

An anthology of black and white poetic snapshots of societal mores and priorities in a changing urban environment

Against the Wall

The crypt coldness
were a hentai fantasy;
short, with slits
and scoop;
and a mile of leg
disappearing
into leather micro.
Her eyes held that look
of reflective knowledge
found only in the better work
of a few Dutch Masters.

The mind-place
she visited while working
was an old friend
from a lost childhood,
a place to which
she continued to be drawn,
even after learning
her test was positive.


Shelter

She
sits quietly,
near the window,
eyes nervously
tracking
remembered pain.

She
does not know
where
she will go
when
frugal municipal funds
force closure
on her shelter.

She
still believes
if she had tried
harder,
if she were
a better person,
he would never
have hurt her.


The Swarming

The Library was her refuge:
through her thick lenses
she travelled far beyond
these sordid streets.
She lunched
with Byron and Yeats;
held off dervishes
with Gordon.
She was a true Bene Gesserit;
a Reverend Mother
of some note.

In the litter-planted park
the Ten cursed and fought,
discussing,
monosyllabic,
the direction the evening
should take.
Their oversized clothing,
with uniform drabness,
prompted visions
of children
playing dress-up
in the rainy-day attic of a kinder world.

They surrounded
and devoured her
in their contrived anger.
Broken glasses,
scattered books,
ripped pages, lay mute
in the mud.

Her broken body
was serene and regal:
somewhen
the Sisterhood
mourned the passing
of a respected colleague,
and, at the siege of Khartoum,
Gordon fought on,
alone.


“Body and Soul”*

The mellow sound
of his alto sax
suffuses
the pedestrian mall
with the echo
of a gentler
time.

Several older listeners
think of Charlie Parker,
of Stan Getz,
and of the magical freedom
jazz bestows
on the human
soul.

His worn Stetson
accepted the tribute
of coins
that could not begin
to feed the hunger
behind
his scarred arms.

He plays
as though his spirit
was aflame,
the difficulty of his
methadone treatment
and his worsening Hep C
forgotten.

He smiles
as several of his listeners
break into applause,
just before
tone-deaf Mall Security
roughly tells him
to move along.

* “Body and Soul” is the title of a recording made in 1939 by Coleman Hawkins that became THE model for later jazz solos on all instruments.


Reuse-Return-Recycle

The rusted wreck
of the broken shopping cart
serendipitously proceeded
from one green plastic
mother lode
to the next.

Its guide,
hidden beneath layers
that could have inspired
Escher’s genius at morphing,
was, however, more evocative
of Hieronymus Bosch.

He mined
each green trove assiduously,
adding nuggets of refundable treasure
carefully
to his creaking, wobbling chariot.
His acute accountant’s mind
kept a running total
in crisp, clean ledgers that,
alone, survived
the culture shock,
the corporate downsizing,
of the Nineteen Eighties.

Fog People

You often
almost see them
from the corner
of your eye.
You sense
a wisp of grey,
a floating,
ethereal
movement
that suddenly
d i s s o l v e s.

They drift
quietly,
gently,
on the edge
of our consciousness:
these pale,
these grey,
these haunting
people,
whom all,
but Time,
have forgotten.

If we chance
to pause,
to peer beyond
the drifting veil,
we see,
within the shroud,
a preview of ourselves
tomorrow.



Injection

The television
and the cell phone
from the break-in
purchased
a plastic packet
of peace.

The needle
was new:
clean and free.
Soon
the magical tsunami
would sweep away
his soul.

The powder,
pure and deadly,
should have been
adulterated
to slow the rush
of fragile heart.
The young man,
releasing the dam,
felt, for an instant,
the cool brick wall
of his derelict mausoleum,
then was gone.

Air Vent Requiem

His muttered dialogue with Jesus
was apologetic and respectful,
politely drawing that Deity’s attention
to cosmic oversights.

The supermarket cart,
full of strange lumps and extrusions,
seemed a natural extension of self.
His eyes never viewed
a potential acquisition directly:
they fluttered, like children’s wishes,
skirting the object of desire,
until, overcome by belief,
he would pounce.

The temperature drop,
that negated the meagre warmth
of the hot air vent that was his home,
temporarily interrupted
his celestial conversation.

In the thin morning light,
the cart stands guard
over the still and huddled body,
like some alien monument
commemorating a battle
few have known.




Under the Bridge

Fog from the river
gathers under the bridge,
dampening cardboard,
chilling marrow
and shrouding soul.

Moans rise
to a waning moon:
nightmare screams
shatter
an uncaring stillness.

Bundles of rags,
drawn to the dying fire,
mutter
querulous monologues
in alien tongues.

Bent figure,
urinating in icy water,
stumbles, splashes,
and is gone
without a ripple.

Testimony

He easily ignored
the stares,
the crude comments,
the threatening gestures,
engendered
by his street-corner ministry:
his testament of Faith.

He overcame his fear
with his Belief
that, even in these squalid
ghetto streets,
the Word
should enlighten.

While he sang
“What a Friend we have
in Jesus,”
a hulk in gangsta garb
spat on him,
and he worried that
his Testimony
only made
his God
sad.


Third World Stigmata

The depth of sadness
in the girl's eyes
held the attention of all
on the air-conditioned
tourist bus.
No older
than eight or nine,
she wove her way deftly
through dense Delhi traffic,
propelling her steel-castered,
wooden platform
with sure strokes of her hands.

Last year
her impoverished parents had
sold her,
the youngest,
so that the family could live.
Her new owner,
realising the value
of his investment,
ensured that the operation,
removing both legs,
was sterile:
she was on the street
within two months.

Pausing at the corner lights,
the bus disgorged
several tourists,
who pressed rupee notes
upon the small amputee.
They had no way of knowing
their gift
perpetuated
slavery and mutilation.

Bus Station Encounter

The stench
of excrement-stained clothing,
of body long unwashed,
almost obscured
the rich vocabulary,
the cultural cadence
of the derelict’s voice.

The young woman
did not hear
his compliments;
did not recognise
his astute and
favourable analysis
of her fashion statement.
She merely said,
“Piss off,
or I’ll scream.”


Diamonds in the Gutter

Smiles flashing,
like memories
of some distant sun,
they pursue
the soccer ball
with feral glee.

Their communication
is joyous,
a staccato burst,
an ethnic melange
born of the urgency
of the streets.

They are aware,
but do not see
the syringes, condoms,
empty bottles;
an alternate reality
from another world.

Dealers, junkies,
pros, and winos:
all known and greeted equally
by these small,
energetic
dreams of tomorrow.


Sound Bite

The motorcade,
stopping before cameras
and microphones,
was as incongruous
as a guffaw at a funeral.
The surrounding buildings,
derelict and time-worn
as the few faces peering,
confused, from the mouldy doorways
and flaking windowsills,
were stark:
tones of black, white, and grey:
a dismal dream of some forgotten disaster.

The mayor,
cloaked with a bonhomie
born of a profound sense of self-worth,
smiled, facing the cameras:
yes, the city had concluded
a mutually satisfying agreement
with the developer.
The area would be
reclaimed,
revitalised,
refurbished,
and released from the state of decay
into which it had fallen.

The one radical reporter
who wished to question
relocation of the low rental units,
the rehab centre, the soup kitchens,
was swept aside
by smiling, applauding businessmen,
anxious to escape
such unsavoury environs.

Curbside Retrospective

His thin shoulders
hunched
against the chill
evening mist,
he surveyed
the oncoming cars
with a weary look
of superior
disdain.

The weariness within
belied
his sixteen years.
He longed for
the peace
of his shabby room,
the distracting noise
and diversion
of his Game Cube.

The Audi slowed...
stopped.
Power window lowered,
terms and conditions
discussed.
The boy noted the tie,
the service club
lapel pin,
and hated the man
nearly as much
as the abusive father,
now
far
away.

Squeegee Kids

Some commuters
drive for
m i l e s
out of their way,
wasting
time and money,
to avoid
Squeegee corners:
the penalty of guilt.

Others pay,
avoiding eye contact,
looking.......straight.......ahead,
afraid
the gunge
of the Squeegee’s rag
may damage Audi shine.
They reinforce
the efficacy of intimidation
as a social grace.

The global village
has come of age,
as this phenomena,
indigenous once
solely to third world cities,
has arrived on
Main Street,
and urban crowding,
with youth unemployment,
makes
the sale of fear
a career of necessity
to those
we continue to
ignore.


Diminished Responsibility

Her pregnancy, only minutes from term,
gave her the look of a tumbleweed
as she stumbled
through killing December cold.
Sally Ann band on windswept corner
marked the passage of one whose experience
was the cosmic opposite of their celestial joy:
"...crib for His bed, the little Lord..."

With labour pains almost constant
she turned into the alley,
sheltering in the shadow of
a green dumpster, which exhorted
a more affluent society to
"Keep our City Clean."
She squatted as her water broke,
and cursed her most recent companion
for throwing her out
when her condition
invalidated her use to him.
She blasted her last two rocks
in the lifeline of her pipe,
and suddenly, “God!”
It was done.

The investigative team
discovered the icy creche
near the area where
the Paras had found her,
collapsed, in the street.
The rookie swore
when he opened the dumpster,
quick tears freezing on his cheeks,
while in the distance,
the Army concluded their ministry
with "O Holy Night."

Sanctuary

The lone priest
fussed over his nightly chores:
fresh coffee made,
fresh styrofoam cups,
bulk cookies,
clean bathroom.
The month old magazines
lay scattered
like the broken promises
of yesterday.

He dreaded
the ritual that was about
to occur:
nightly flow
of addicts,
teenaged prostitutes
of both genders,
older hookers,
and many others
who accepted,
for a brief time,
sanctuary.

He hated
how his body,
kindled
by the presence
of his younger
visitors,
betrayed his faith,
as he fought
a lonely battle,
already lost.



Yesterday’s Children

The stiffness of the morning
will s l o w l y
work its way
out of tired joints.
Bland breakfasts
ensure
regularity,
a welcomed monotony.
Well-planned days
permit
no dismal contemplation
of tomorrow.

We are Yesterday’s children,
remembering too well,
the heat and the passion,
the beauty that was ours.
Hearing echoes
of past glories,
we sojourn here today,
until,
like dreams
and memories,
we gently
fade
away.

The Teacher

Another when,
and he ruled his Eng Lit classes
from the comforts
of tweeds well worn.

Today, though,
stumps of pencils, flags of paper,
were secreted willy-nilly
deep in the rags
that called him home.

Teaching when and where he could,
urchin and ancient alike
found benefit
from his memory of a life
before his Fall.
A name spelled here,
welfare application there,
laboured reading
of gutter-trapped headlines;
the street seemed less ugly
for his students.

Shorn heads and hard booted,
the Furies fell upon him
one cold night
for possession of his half bottle
of fortified wine.

Surrounded by his small blank bits of paper,
and short, sharpened stubs of pencils,
he resembled nothing so much
as an incomplete jigsaw puzzle,
its meaning not quite clear.

Waiting for the Night

His reinforced aluminum
sturdy-grip cane
timidly precedes him,
its three legs
reminiscent
of a baby Triffid,
uncertain
in an alien
environment.

The twice-weekly visit
of a harried
social worker
barely scratches
the surface
of his age-imposed
needs:
his clothes are dirtier,
diet less varied,
body weaker,
sight dimmer,
brain more forgetful
than a few short
months ago.

Puzzled,
at the foot of the steps,
he has already
forgotten
his destination:
his Triffid
slowly
leads him
into city traffic.

The Choice

The magnitude
of his fear
dwarfed
his thirteen years.

While crushing
his spirit,
the streets also
extinguished hope.

Perhaps home,
with continuing abuse,
would remove
the terror
of the alleys.


Nemesis

She was proud of her skill
with her three-toed cane.
Her walk
from the Home
to Thrift Store
took just twenty minutes:
then fifteen minutes
to the donut shop
where she’d meet
some of the Girls.

Concentrating
on her next step,
she was shocked,
surprised,
as her faithful shoulder bag
was wrenched
from her grip.

Baggy trousers
slowed his sprint;
dragging cuffs
impeded his balance
as fate,
gravity,
and forward motion
conspired,
then placed him in the path
of the accelerating Transit bus.

She recovered her handbag,
and left the scene
without
a backward
glance.

The Guardian

As an active father, long ago,
he had worn parental responsibility
as a proud and brilliant banner.
His children, now grown,
banner-draped themselves,
frequently implored
he join them in their far-off lives.
He would not, however,
leave her grave untended;
could not abandon shared dreams
that wisped, like Atlantic fog,
through city streets
where they had strolled,
in kinder years, together.

Now, from the window
of his third-floor walk-up,
he surveyed the children of strangers.
Neighbourhood Watch
provided name and number
of an interested, responsive officer,
who valued civic responsibility.

Drug dealers avoided
his visual charges:
bullies and punks sought distant,
more fertile ground.
In the street, children skipped,
tossed balls, laughed and played
under his watchful eye.

Behind him, sometimes,
in the twilight,
he imagined her presence,
and felt the warmth
of her vanished smile.

Urban Diorama

The park,
an oasis of green calm
threatened by a desert
of office towers,
was the place,
favoured by the avatars
of the fiscal god Chaos,
for a quick lunch
and smoke.

Precisely at one-o-five
he would shamble
to his special bench,
across from the pigeon toilet
that resembled
Robbie Burns,
and sort contents
of the green bin
into three piles:
lunch, refund cans and bottles,
and unusables.

He shared his recycled,
second-hand lunch
with pigeons, sparrows, squirrels,
and the odd curious seagull.
His guests were
frequently frightened away
by the strength and violence
of his repeated cough,
as his tuberculosis
brought this urban
Saint Francis of Assisi
daily closer
to his lonely martyrdom.

Bridge Epiphany

The bridge tower
beckoned to him,
like some strange
and shining fortress
from the fantasy books
of his youth;
that distant time
before his parents divorced,
and his world died.

The view,
from his perch
on the pylon,
seemed
to be of twinkling faerie lights,
viewed through the shimmer
of Avalon’s mist.
He forgot, momentarily,
the sadness
of running away,
and the cruel reality
of the streets.

In a moment of crystalline clarity,
he saw that
the meaning of his life,
of his pain,
of his very being,
was only a prelude
to the finality of now,
as the wind
of his swift passage
parted the fog
to reveal a glad smile
that would see
no tomorrows.

The Visitors

There once existed, on a far-off planet, a civilisation of beings that was founded on love, trust, and mutual respect. The concept of a police force or an army would not have been understood here, as crime and war were not words in the language of this people.


The highest accomplishment in this society was to add to the collective aesthetic. Architects built high, airy, soaring buildings in consultation with musicians, so that when the buildings were erected and caressed by the soft prevailing winds, a gentle tone poem was produced that added to the enjoyment of the environment visually and aurally. One city to the south was inhabited entirely by poets, and had been so inhabited for thousands of years. Each poet was expected to contribute one line to a poem that told the entire history of these gentle people. It was a work in progress that was monumental in both concept and scope. We must understand that these poets had evolved over long millennia to the point that, when they wrote, the words they used were toned to evoke emotive responses in the listener through subtle frequency changes. It is interesting to note that this world had no written language: there was no requirement for it, as anything worth saying could be said, and anything worth remembering would be remembered.


One artist had given himself the task of composing a picture symbolising the essence of his world. He thought long on this project, anxious that it should be perfect. Rather than making a hasty decision to start the project, he continued his contemplation without putting paint to canvas. He died peacefully after his four-thousand-year life, but passed his life task on to his warnegs (a word in his language that indicates non-gender-specific spiritual offspring, but also described immortality). Thirty-seven generations later, the present warnegs realised that by virtue of the progression of lives devoted to this project, the picture was presented on the medium of each of their lives, and, as an ongoing work of art, must be continued to be preserved.


Scientists, over the ages, had eliminated sickness, lengthened the lifespan to four thousand years, and perhaps most important, had removed the drudgery from everyday work and housekeeping tasks. Holistic wellness had been enhanced through the medium of specific ganglionic manipulation, achieved through daily humming of a mantric frequency sequence. Each being was free to develop to his best advantage to pursue the common good. If one could survey all of the known universes, both parallel and tangential, one could not find a society that had achieved such a zenith of aesthetic perfection.


These gentle people had no religion, as they had achieved immortality. After living their four thousand lives, they sensed when their physical end was approaching. With a feeling of consuming joy, they would approach another of their kind, touch their heads together in an act called zarlem, and in an instant, the elder would have transferred the core of his being to the other. The body would then disappear, but the essence would continue on in the body of the host. The new arrival would not be alone, as this form of immortality had been going on for more than five million years, and each member of this wondrous society shared her physical being with the essence of millions who had gone before.


One day the scientists on this Utopian planet made a discovery, quite by accident, concerning their friendly, smiling sun, that had shone on them since the dawn of their creation. All of the available facts indicated that, within one half year, this benign star would go nova, destroying its only satellite, their home.

* * * * *

The preparations were at last complete. The shining, egg-shaped ship floated inches above the common, near the centre of the major city of the planet. It would carry 500 physical beings within its silver core. Of cardinal importance though, was the cargo that the five hundred would carry. The voyagers were presently in the process of zarlem with all of the inhabitants of the planet. As each individual touched the head of a voyager, the individual would disappear, but the voyager would have gained yet another personality and the millions of essences contained therein, each as real and vital as the voyager's own character.


Strangely, this process was not a sad one, but was a festive and joyous occasion. The long, intricately formed queues were pleasing to the eye, and the songs and poems, chanted in counterpoint, made the heart vibrate in peaceful exhilaration.

* * * * *

The ship lifted from a planet that was devoid of life. The buildings sang tone poems to no one. The perfect flower designs on swards of the most vivid emerald pleased the eye of none. The perfect sun, that had shone so long on perfection, flickered, then turned an angry orange and exploded in a display of stellar fireworks that soon left that quadrant of the universe empty except for a vast swirling shroud of gas. The silver egg, containing both the past and future of an entire race, sped on, ...and ages passed.

* * * * *

It was a typical afternoon in Central Park: parents walking with their children, office workers relaxing with coffee and sandwich, lovers gazing into each others eyes, and holding hands, three different purse snatchers, one flasher in a London Mist coat ... and Jonathan O'Shea was walking home from his violin lesson.


Jonathan was fourteen years old, an idealist, and a genius. Yale had asked him (much to Harvard's chagrin) if he could join them on a scholarship next term. Jonathan's parents thought that Yale would be good for him, and he was tempted to agree, primarily because of the Medieval Studies program at that university. Jonathan's intellect told him that the Middle Ages were anything but romantic, but his fourteen year old soul longed after a chivalrous age, where knights slew dragons that threatened fair damsels, and virtue was its' own reward.

* * * * *

The five hundred descended in their silver egg, past the ugly towers towards the unruly green park. The ship hovered ten feet above the grass while the passengers looked through the walls and saw the crowds gathering below. They paid no attention to the crowds, as they were enthralled with the large numbers of birds flying about the park. The gentle creatures collectively agreed that, although they did not comprehend all of what they saw, there were as least many present who were not unlike them. The decision was made to go out into the air of their new home and communicate with those who looked almost like them. The ship's wall opaqued, then opened for them, and the travellers went forth into their new home.


The crowds around the silver ship watched in astonishment as five hundred beautiful, bronze-plumed birds flew like a flame through the wall of the ship. When these birds started a strange high singing, the quiet astonishment of the crowd turned to action. A few of the crowd threw frisbees, others threw stones, and baseballs. Most of the phoenix-like creatures were knocked from the skies and torn apart by the grabbing of many hands anxious to salvage one of the burnished feathers.


Jonathan, standing back from the mob, was dismayed by the carnage. When one of the birds dropped, wounded, at his feet, he picked it up and hid it under his jacket. He wasted no time in finding a quiet place where he could examine his patient for wounds. The two stared at each other, each recognising in the other a kindred spirit. The bird keened a mournful, quiet sound that Jonathan could almost understand. He held the bird closer to his ear so he could hear all the subtle nuances of the song. The bird leaned forward and touched Jonathan's forehead with its beak. In the brief intense burst of emotion that flooded throughout every fibre of his body, Jonathan O'Shea received zarlem, with the understanding of what had been done, and was not surprised that the visitor had disappeared.

* * * * *

The last of the visitors, the glowing plumage dulled and drab, died in captivity twenty-seven days after the landing. Jonathan went on to Yale, where his field of studies changed to demographics, sociology, philosophy, and religion.


Ten years after the Landing, Jonathan O'Shea, scholar and warneg, used the accumulated knowledge, culture, and science of another species, and changed the world for the better.

Cultures of Non-violence, and Blackflies

I have been enthralled by those Hindi and Buddhist adherents who would be aghast at killing even a cockroach. 

When I was on posting in Delhi, whenever the High Commission got too crazy with multitudinous political problems, I would take a three-wheeler down to the old city. I would wander the back streets of Chandni Chowk, and the alleyways that encircle the Red Fort. Early in my posting, during one of these rambles, I looked into a small Hindu temple, nestled in the very shadow of the Red Fort. 

In the main sanctum, before a small alter composed of images of gods and avatars (Hanuman, Shiva, Khrishna, Deva, and others I did not recognise) stood a beautiful bull, quietly chewing his cud. The Sishya (resident disciple of a Guru) greeted me in Hindi, and I responded in English. Through gestures, he invited me into his quarters, a single room behind the sanctum proper. 

The furniture consisted of a small cot, hot plate, and fan. Several pictures of his Guru adorned the sand-coloured walls. An older woman appeared to make strong milky coffee for us. This she served with powdered cardamom sprinkled on top. About a dozen men were seated on the floor, smoking pungent Indian cigarettes, and occasionally passing around a chillum (funnel-shaped clay pipe) filled with a mixture of tobacco and charas, a form of hashish (which I later learned came from the mountainous area around Hrishikesh). 

A sidenote at this point: it appears that the temple was dedicated to, and the Sishya an adherent of,  Shaivism (in which, simple put, Shiva (Siva) is the main deity). Many devotees of Shaivism use hashish to enhance their religious experience, and, supposedly, to see more clearly their path through this incarnation. This was the heyday of the American War on Drugs, but I refused to take the view that these gentlemen were drug addicts, intent on getting stoned and dangerous. 

Some of the Sishya's backroom guests fortunately spoke English, and I was able, over the next three years, to learn much about their religion, and practices. Crossing the floor was a column of large black ants, with massive mandibles. They were about 3 cm long, and looked extremely aggressive. I asked a man next to me why they didn't get rid of the ants. He laughed, and spoke at length to the Sishya, who also laughed. The man then explained to me, as to a child, that the ants, as well as Sahib, our Canadian guest, has reason to seek the refuge of Shiva's temple, and may well be atoning for evils accumulated in a previous existence. Hence, he continued, we do not kill our brothers. 

Works for me, although mosquitoes and blackflies have sinned far too much in previous lives, so I hurry them on to their next incarnation with much glee. 


Peace, and namaste

Bucharest Spring: 1982

Strains of gypsy violins
floated, in aural rhapsody,
on the sumac scented air
of Floreasca Park.
Other lovers
also strolled,
but we were elsewhere-
a place out of time,
where we existed
     only in our eyes.

Cherry blossoms burst
in vernal excitement
in the gardens
of the old Bucur Restaurant.
The open window
by our mezzanine table
with its guttering candle,
admitted a subtle miasma
that focussed our world
     to this eternal moment.

The rain-washed cobbles
of Calea Victoriei
echoed reflected fairy lights,
illuminating the enchanted night.
The Arcul de Triomphe
loomed from the mist,
a monumental signpost
on the magical journey
that would lead us, spell-bound,
     into our shared future.

Beijing Morning

                 

The dragon awakes. Stretching,
with a rattle of scales, he yawns.
The sun, rising
in the east, is red.*

At seven in the morning
the Imperial City is alive
beneath the lifting night shroud
of coal smoke
Japanese cars have replaced
ten million bicycles.

The stone lions keep watch
over Tien-an-min;
in their snarls, surprise
at Chang’An traffic.
The masses sport Gucci,
Dior, where once blue ruled.
Hot breads, tea, and tai chi
still prevail.

In the Western Hills
the Buddhas watch, bells tinkling,
a delayed Industrial Revolution
struggling, growing.

In the compounds and factories
where once loudspeakers preached
Party lines, headlines in low fidelity,
CD stereos play.
MTV replaces the Red Book.
Children march in day care centres:
sailing the educational seas
no longer depends on the Helmsman.*

The dragon,
eyes weak with sleep,
cannot yet see beyond his lair.
Hunger rumbles in his vitals,
and soon he must roam
beyond his hills.

—James D. Fanning
* In the 1960s and early 70s, two of the songs heard most frequently over public loudspeakers throughout China were The East Is Red, and, Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman (a reference, of course, to Chairman Mao). jdf

Abu Dhabi Mosaic

The Corniche skirts
the bath-warm waters of the Gulf,
jewelled with elegant,
pristine office towers
that caress
a sere and scorching sky.
Mercedes and Lexus,
adorned with gold-plate trim,
sedately chauffeur
the descendants of the Bani Yas
through what, only a few decades past,
was a collection of tents
and mud huts
sprinkled across
the unforgiving sand.

At the Gold Souk
black-garbed women seek
golden adornment
that will remain hidden
beneath voluminous abbaya,
while their dark and canny eyes
flash through gold-threaded
full facial masks.

At the Sheridan,
a doorman folds back massive doors
that permit access
to yet another gold-plated Merc.
The occupant joins colleague
on an arrangement of embroidered cushions
on the marble floor
of the air-conditioned lobby.
A brazier of coals heats coffee
offered in traditional and ancient
desert hospitality.

Sparkling new pickup trucks
transport contemptuous dromedaries
whose racing skills will be tested
at the evening camel races.
To the south the hypnotic dunes
march relentlessly towards
the Rub al-Khali, the Empty Quarter,
where hides Uban,
the fabled lost city of Arabia,
beneath its timeless sands.